Swab vs. Swap — What's the Difference?

A small piece of absorbent material attached to the end of a stick or wire and used for cleansing a surface, applying medicine, or collecting a sample of a substance.

Take part in an exchange of

A sample collected with a swab.

An act of exchanging one thing for another

A sponge or patch of absorbent material used to clean the bore of a firearm or cannon.

To trade one thing for another.

A mop used for cleaning floors or decks.

To exchange (one thing) for another.

(Slang) A sailor.

An exchange of one thing for another.

(Slang) A lout.

A contract in which two parties agree to exchange periodic interest payments, especially when one payment is at a fixed rate and the other varies according to the performance of a reference rate, such as the prime rate.

To use a swab on.

(transitive) To exchange or give (something) in an exchange (for something else).

To clean with a swab.

To hit, to strike.

To collect a sample from (a person, for example) using a swab.

To beat the air, or ply the wings, with a sweeping motion or noise; to flap.

(medicine) A small piece of soft, absorbent material, such as gauze, used to clean wounds, apply medicine, or take samples of body fluids. Often attached to a stick or wire to aid access.

To descend or fall; to rush hastily or violently.

A sample taken with a swab piece of absorbent material.

An exchange of two comparable things.

A piece of material used for cleaning or sampling other items like musical instruments or guns.

(finance) A financial derivative in which two parties agree to exchange one stream of cashflow against another stream.

A mop, especially on a ship.

Space available in a swap file for use as auxiliary memory.

(slang) A sailor; a swabby.

(Cantab slang) A social meal at a restaurant between two university societies, usually involving drinking and banter; commonly associated with fining and pennying; equivalent to a crewdate at Oxford University.

(slang) A naval officer's epaulet.

A blow; a stroke.

(transitive) To use a swab on something, or clean something with a swab.

To strike; - with off.

To clean with a mop or swab; to wipe when very wet, as after washing; as, to swab the desk of a ship.

To exchange (usually two things of the same kind); to swop.

A kind of mop for cleaning floors, the desks of vessels, etc., esp. one made of rope-yarns or threads.

To fall or descend; to rush hastily or violently.

A bit of sponge, cloth, or the like, fastened to a handle, for cleansing the mouth of a sick person, applying medicaments to deep-seated parts, etc.

To beat the air, or ply the wings, with a sweeping motion or noise; to flap.

An epaulet.

A blow; a stroke.

A cod, or pod, as of beans or pease.

An exchange; a barter.

A sponge, or other suitable substance, attached to a long rod or handle, for cleaning the bore of a firearm.

Hastily.

Implement consisting of a small piece of cotton that is used to apply medication or cleanse a wound or obtain a specimen of a secretion

An equal exchange;

Cleaning implement consisting of absorbent material fastened to a handle; for cleaning floors

Exchange or give (something) in exchange for

Wash with a swab or a mop;

Move (a piece of a program) into memory, in computer science

Apply (usually a liquid) to a surface;